News Byte

Research Firm eMarketer Slashes 2013 Mobile Payments Estimate in Half

Research firm eMarketer said Thursday it was cutting its 2013 estimate for total mobile payments in the U.S. from the $2.12 billion it estimated in October 2012 to $1 billion. The firm said that adoption has been slower than anticipated and that competing offerings have hampered growth. Still, the $1 billion total would mark 93 percent growth over the $539 million in mobile payments eMarketer forecast for 2012.

Goldman Sachs: This Is the Beginning of a Big Year for Apple

Apple’s recent Wall Street losing streak hasn’t shaken Goldman Sachs’ faith in the company in the slightest.

Yahoo Beats Q1 Expectations (as Expected) — Now, Will New CEO Outline More Strategery on Investor Call?

An upside non-surprise as we await pearls of wisdom from new CEO Scott Thompson.

So Maybe the Kindle Fire Wasn’t Quite That Hot

But still pretty hot! A Barclays analyst tamps down sales estimates, but says Amazon is in no danger of losing the No. 2 spot in the tablet race.

Amazon and Apple: Two Tablet Makers, Two Drastically Different Fourth Quarters

Amazon is expected to report a giant fourth quarter tomorrow, but the results couldn’t be more different from Apple’s monstrous fourth-quarter results reported last week.

Ad Sales Are Either Okay, Growing Slower, or Soft. Pick Your Answer!

Depending on who you ask, the ad market is holding steady, or growing more slowly than predicted, or maybe something a little more dire.

As CEO Bartz Fiddles With Turnaround, Yahoo’s Stock Value Burns

Yahoo — which turned in yet another disappointing quarter on Tuesday, but with all new excuses for the continuing decline in revenue — is now getting toasted by Wall Street. That would be the marshmallow — and not the champagne — kind.

Analyst Warns of Global iPademic

With iPad 2 hopefuls still queuing outside Apple stores each morning, more than two weeks after the device’s U.S. launch, and international demand causing widespread stock-outs abroad, analysts who follow Apple are scrambling to adjust their iPad sales and earnings-per-share estimates. The latest to do so is Needham’s Charlie Wolf, who today raised his 2011 iPad sales forecast to 30 million units from 20 million.

Verizon iPhone Lines Inversely Proportional to Verizon iPhone Rumors

After the nearly interminable buildup to the iPhone’s launch on Verizon–the years of anticipation, rumors and speculation–you’d think eager buyers would be camping out in front of their local Apple Store and that Verizon stores would literally be overrun with frustrated AT&T iPhone users looking for relief. But evidently that’s not the case.

Cisco Earnings Beat Estimates, but Only by a Little

Air pockets have been transformed into “a period of transition” for CEO John Chambers.

Sun Boosts Oracle Profits

But Daddy, I Want an iPhone 4 NOW!

Apple Selling .434 iPads Per Second